Russian Armed Forces
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (Russian: Вооружё́нные Си́лы Росси́йской Федера́ции '''Transliteration: Voruzhonnije Síly Rossíyskoj Federátsii') are the military services of Russia, established after the break-up of the Soviet Union. On 7 May 1992 Boris Yeltsin signed a decree establishing the Russian Ministry of Defence and placing all Soviet Armed Forces troops on the territory of the RSFSR under Russian Federation control. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces is the President of the Russian Federation. Although the Russian armed forces were formed in 1992, the Russian military dates its roots back to the times of the Kievan Rus'. As of 2007, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) estimated that the Russian armed forces numbered about 1,200,000 active troops and about another 754,000 reserves, but a significant military reform is underway which will cut the number of troops. According to an 2010 IISS estimate, Russia's annual defense spending stands at about $86 billion. Russia is one of the few countries in the world that has a fully indigenous defence industry, producing its own military equipment. In 2018, the Russian Armed Forces became the most powerful armed forces in the world when Russia became once again a superpower and started to reforms the armed forces when Russia joined the Warsaw Pact. It is now the most powerful ally of the Soviet Union. History As the Soviet Union officially dissolved on December 31, 1991, the Soviet military was left in limbo. For the next year and a half various attempts to keep its unity and transform it into the military of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) failed. Over time, the units stationed in Ukraine and some other breakaway republics swore loyalty to their new national governments, while a series of treaties between the newly independent states divided up the military's assets. On 7 May 1992, Yeltsin appointed himself as the new Russian minister of defence, marking a crucial step in the creation of the new Armed Forces. By December 1993 CIS military structures had become CIS military cooperation structures with all real influence lost. In the next few years, Russian forces withdrew from central and eastern Europe, as well as from some newly independent post-Soviet republics. While in most places the withdrawal took place without any problems, the Russian Armed Forces remained in some disputed areas such as the Sevastopol naval base in the Crimea as well as in Abkhazia and Transnistria. The Armed Forces have several bases in foreign countries, especially on territory of the former Soviet Republics. A new military doctrine, promulgated in November 1993, implicitly acknowledged the contraction of the old Soviet military into a regional military power without global imperial ambitions. In keeping with its emphasis on the threat of regional conflicts, the doctrine called for a Russian military that is smaller, lighter, and more mobile, with a higher degree of professionalism and with greater rapid deployment capability. Such change proved extremely difficult to achieve. Under Defence Minister Pavel Grachev, little military reform took place, though there was a plan to create more deployable Mobile Forces. Later Defence Minister Rodionov had good qualifications but did not manage to institute lasting change. Only under Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev did a certain amount of limited reforms begin, though attention was focused upon the Strategic Rocket Forces. Significant reforms were announced in late 2008 under Defence Minister Anatoliy Serdyukov, and major structural reorganisation began in 2009. Key elements of the reforms announced in October 2008 include reducing the armed forces to a strength of one million by 2012 (planned end-date was 2016); reducing the number of officers; centralising officer training from 65 military schools into 10 'systemic' military training centres; reducing the size of the central command; introducing more civilian logistics and auxiliary staff; elimination of cadre-strength formations; reorganising the reserves; reorganising the army into a brigade system; and reorganising air forces into an air base system instead of regiments. Organization ''See also: Organization of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Category:Russian Armed Forces